image/svg+xml
Umpiring team
Red team
Blue team
A Prussian infantry brigade is about to attack the
Zuckerfabrik
(German for "sugar factory", obviously and an important objec-
tive) south of SADOVA. Two Austrian battalions are deplyed to
defend it. Austrian artillery stands on a hill to the east, and two
full regiments of cavalry have been sent on a southern route to
flank the approaching Prussians
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The Prussian
Kriegsspiel
(German for "war game")
was designed to familiarize officers with fog of war
experiences, decinsion making in uncertain situa-
tions, and effective information processing.
To learn more about how this was done in the 19th
centrury, click thorough this resentation, or navi-
gate with the arrow keys on your keyboard.
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21/
How to Play the Prussian
Kriegsspiel
Steffen Pielström & Jorit Wintjes
2019
Message Inbox
Round no.
6
Round no.
6
Round no.
6
Umpiring
The basic idea was to rely completely on umpires
for implementing rules and game mechanics.
Participants in the teams needed no knowledge of
rules at all. They were only required to asses the
situation according to written messages, with the
aid of a topographic map, and a set of tokens re-
presenting units on the battlefield. They were ex-
spected to decide according to their tactical judge-
ment, and take action by writing orders, as they
would in the field.
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Three maps
The
Kriegsspiel
is played
on three maps, ideally
placed in three separate
rooms.
The red team therefore has a reletively realistic picture of the
immedeately surrunding their command post.
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The Austrian commander, indicated by the flag has placed him-
self with his artillery on the hill.
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He can directly see the enemy battalions on the ROSKOS. The
Prussian forces behind that hill can be seen by the Austrian
battalions to their south, but messages from there arrive at
the commander's position only with a delay.
The cavalry regiments are on the move and temporarily out of
contact. The Austrian commander's idea about their current po-
sition slightly deviates from the "reality" at the umpires' table.
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Only the umpires have to deal with the rule book. The rules try to
reward sound tactical decisions, but add a fair amount of uncer-
tainty by dice rolls.
Players are only informed about the results by messages written
by their simulated subordinates, i.e. the umpires.
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At the same time, the Prussian commander atop the ROSKOS can
also see only a part of the Austrian units. Keeping his brigade
together, he can see all his battalions and has a fairly realistic
picture of his own forces.
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Now the Austrian commander wants to take action against the
approaching enemy. He wants his artillery...
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...to pound the Prussian battalions on the opposite ROSKOS hill.
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Meanwhile, the plan is for the cavalry to charge down from the
hights around DUB into the enemy flank.
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Orders
The way to take action in the
Kriegsspiel
is to write
an order. To the right, you can see what such an
order actually looked like in the late 19th century.
It is an order written during a
Kriegsspiel
of the
British Army, addressed to a brigade level forma-
tion
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From: commander 11 infantry brigade
at: hilltop NE of CISTOWES
To: 11th rifled battery
at: hilltop NE of CISTOWES
Round: 6
Simulated Time: 12:12 PM
Real Time: 12:38 PM
Message no.: 9
Engage enemy infantry on ROSKOS hill!
From: commander 11 infantry brigade
at: hilltop NE of CISTOWES
To: cavalry brigade
von Pückler
at: east of MXAN
Round: 6
Simulated Time: 12:12 PM
Real Time: 12:42 PM
Message no.: 10
My dear Franz,
enemy infantry, maybe in brigade strength,
is moving against our position at the
Zuckerfabrik
from the north. I kindly ask you
to take the heights around DUB without revea-
ling your advance, and then charge the enemy
flank to expel the Prussians from the valley.
Meanwhile, my artillery will fire at enemy infan-
try on ROSKOS hill.
Your humble and obidient servant.
The orders written (or dictated) by our Austrian
commander may look like this. As they are ad-
dressed to two different units, two orders are
necessary (they will be despached by staff gal-
lopers).
It is very important note one's own and the recei-
vers likely position, as messengers actually have
to find recipients on the battlefield.
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Players put their orders into a message inbox near
the door of the umpires' room, where the umpires
pick them up at the beginning of each new round.
Messages from red team are written on red paper,
messages from blue team on blue paper.
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From: commander 11 infantry brigade
at: hilltop NE of CISTOWES
To: 11th rifled battery
at: hilltop NE of CISTOWES
Round: 6
Simulated Time: 12:12 PM
Real Time: 12:38 PM
Message no.: 9
Engage enemy infantry on ROSKOS hill!
From: commander 11 infantry brigade
at: hilltop NE of CISTOWES
To: cavalry brigade
von Pückler
at: east of MXAN
Round: 6
Simulated Time: 12:12 PM
Real Time: 12:42 PM
Message no.: 10
My dear Franz,
enemy infantry, maybe in brigade strength,
is moving against our position at the
Zuckerfabrik
from the north. I kindly ask you
to take the heights around DUB without revea-
ling your advance, and then charge the enemy
flank to expel the Prussians from the valley.
Meanwhile, my artillery will fire at enemy infan-
try on ROSKOS hill.
Your humble and obidient servant.
Now, at the beginning of round 7, the umpires will
read the Austrian commander's orders.
The recipient of the fist order is close by on the
map, the artillery can take action instantly.
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A roll of dice compared to table in the rule book
tells the umpires that the 2nd battalion of the 68th
Prussian Infantry Regiment, the front unit in the
Austrians' line of fire, loses 38 men due to artillery
fire.
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From: 2nd battalio 68th Infantry Regiment
at: south of ROSKOS Hill
To: commander 11th Infantry Brigade
at: ROSKOS hill
Round: 7
Simulated Time: 12:14 PM
Real Time: 12:55 PM
Message no.: 3
On the move southwards to ZUCKERFAKRIK.
Taking heavy casualties by enemy artillery
fire from eastern direction.
As a consequence, the umpires write a message
to the Prussian team, simulating how a subordi-
nate officer would write a despatch to his superior
in a similar situation in the field.
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The cavalry brigade addressed in this order is very
far away from the commander. The umpires decide
that it will take another 3 rounds until the despatch
arrives and the recipient can act accordingly.
In the meantime, the umpires will decide how the
cavalry commander interprets his older standing
orders and move the cavalry force accordingly.
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This concludes our presentation on how the
Kriegsspiel
was played in the 19th century.
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The umpire's map
The situation on umpire's maps represents the
"true reality" of the simulation. Umpires use this
map to judge what information should be available
to the players.
We are using this part of an original map with kind
permission of the British Library (BLL01004805936).
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1
welcome
umpiring
3maps
umpiremap
rules
situation
red commander
red commander2
red commander3
blue commander
command1
command2
command4
command5
command6
command7
command7
command8
command9
command9
end